Panthers Waive Justin Medlock

[CarolinaFan87]

Can't say I didn't see this coming since he has been very weak on his field goals. He is solid up close but anything over 40 yards he is at best unreliable. His replacement will be Graham Gano. I am sure we will look into kickers more in the offseason and Gano is probably a stop gap.

[manbearchef]

This is kinda funny. We endured Mare last year killing us in games by missing 30 yarders, but Medlock has two bad games and we boot him.

He was 7/10 with a long of 45. Really, he's only missed two FGs, since one was a block (hard to blame the kicker for a blocked FG). I think the two he missed were 40+ yarders, so it's hard to be extremely upset about it when he's practically a rookie.

I would've at least kept him until the end of the season. It almost seems like we're being haunted by Kasay lol.

[CarolinaFan87]

This is kinda funny. We endured Mare last year killing us in games by missing 30 yarders, but Medlock has two bad games and we boot him.

He was 7/10 with a long of 45. Really, he's only missed two FGs, since one was a block (hard to blame the kicker for a blocked FG). I think the two he missed were 40+ yarders, so it's hard to be extremely upset about it when he's practically a rookie.

I would've at least kept him until the end of the season. It almost seems like we're being haunted by Kasay lol.

If he were missing fields goals that were 50+ i would give him a pass but the ones in the 40's you gotta make as a nfl kicker. If he made the kick against the Bucs we probably would have won. I am not putting the lose on him but it is true. Also I think the team was unimpressed with his touchbacks.

[manbearchef]

Yeah, he wasn't the greatest on kickoffs. I wouldn't want a long-term kicker missing a lot of 40 yarders, but I think it's kinda harsh to cut a guy who has only missed two kicks.

I hate the NFL moving the kick off spot. I actually liked having two kickers. I was a huge Rhys Lloyd fan, despite him playing possibly the most boring position lol.

[CarolinaFan87]

Yeah, he wasn't the greatest on kickoffs. I wouldn't want a long-term kicker missing a lot of 40 yarders, but I think it's kinda harsh to cut a guy who has only missed two kicks.

I hate the NFL moving the kick off spot. I actually liked having two kickers. I was a huge Rhys Lloyd fan, despite him playing possibly the most boring position lol.

I think Medlock's numbers are a little deceptive because the fact is Rivera didn't trust him when it was 50 yards or long kicks in general. There were multiple times we were in field goal range but Rivera opted not to try because he didn't have faith in Medlock. I think Geno is here just for this year and we will address kicker in the offseason. It will be interesting to see if we get a chance for a 50 yard field goal because I am curious if Rivera will have faith and let Geno kick.

[Killakatsfan]

You know Brad Nortman is sweating bullets!

[homestarunner93]

This is so insanely stupid. More scapegoats for Rivera. He's going to have a whole stable of them by the time he gets fired in the off-season.

[manbearchef]

You know Brad Nortman is sweating bullets!

I might be wrong, but I figure Nortman is safe at least until next year. We did spend a draft pick on him, and he hasn't been bad (especially by rookie standards).

I also might be wrong in my next guess, but Medlocke might just be this week's scapegoat. First Hurney, then S/T coach, now Medlocke in a game where he missed a 40+ yarder in the middle of the 4th quarter.

I'm honestly shocked to have not seen a "Panthers dismiss Ron Rivera," article this morning. I know JR didn't want to let Fox go mid-season, but he was also extremely close with Fox and while Fox's teams were pretty bad, the losses weren't close and an apparent direct cause of the coaching.

[N.E.PanthersFan]

Yeah, this is a little surprising, but CF87 brings up a good point -- maybe we kick more FGs if we have more faith in the kicker. I mean, how many game-losing misses did we suffer last year and Mare survived?

That said, I have to think that they see something in Gano that they don't see in Medlock, otherwise they wouldn't have pulled the trigger. Maybe they've had problems with Medlock all season but the Bears game afforded him a second chance? Aside from that one game, he's been less than stellar. I sense that, like a lot of things, there's something here that isn't publicly visible. I don't believe in the "scapegoat" conspiracy theories -- Rivera's not the kind of guy who would fire someone without truly believing it would move the team in the right direction.

[manbearchef]

Yeah, this is a little surprising, but CF87 brings up a good point -- maybe we kick more FGs if we have more faith in the kicker. I mean, how many game-losing misses did we suffer last year and Mare survived?

I mean, I think Rivera clearly hasn't had faith in either of his first two kickers, but I honestly think that is more on Rivera. This is the NFL. You don't get to the NFL as a kicker without have at least a shot at making a 50 yarder. I guess Rivera is too stupid to realize the chance of ANY kicker making a 50 yarder is still much more likely than a 50 yard hail marry working in the last 5 seconds of a half.

But, I guess what's done is done, so moving on to Gano, he has a career long of 59, which is nice, but he also hasn't been very accurate. He's only 25, so he's definitely got room to improve. I just keep feeling like I remember him having a few huge misses and losing games for the Skins.

[homestarunner93]

Yeah, this is a little surprising, but CF87 brings up a good point -- maybe we kick more FGs if we have more faith in the kicker. I mean, how many game-losing misses did we suffer last year and Mare survived?

That said, I have to think that they see something in Gano that they don't see in Medlock, otherwise they wouldn't have pulled the trigger. Maybe they've had problems with Medlock all season but the Bears game afforded him a second chance? Aside from that one game, he's been less than stellar. I sense that, like a lot of things, there's something here that isn't publicly visible. I don't believe in the "scapegoat" conspiracy theories -- Rivera's not the kind of guy who would fire someone without truly believing it would move the team in the right direction.

Maybe he should have shown a little faith in him. He never even gave him a chance to kick long FGs before he outright cut him.

I wouldn't put it past Rivera. He fires a new person every week. Why? He's trying to keep his job. It won't work, though.

[CarolinaFan87]

Maybe he should have shown a little faith in him. He never even gave him a chance to kick long FGs before he outright cut him.

I wouldn't put it past Rivera. He fires a new person every week. Why? He's trying to keep his job. It won't work, though.

Perhaps the reason he has little faith in him is because he sees his kicking from distance in practice and in pregame warm ups. I wouldn't trust the man from 50 either since he struggles kicking it in the 40 yard range. The fact is Medlock was not the answer and it was plan as day to see. I am sure we will address kicker in the offseason so I am not concerned. Like I said earlier I am looking forward to seeing if Rivera lets Geno kick from 50 yards and I will be interested to see if Geno can make it from 50.

[homestarunner93]

Perhaps the reason he has little faith in him is because he sees his kicking from distance in practice and in pregame warm ups. I wouldn't trust the man from 50 either since he struggles kicking it in the 40 yard range. The fact is Medlock was not the answer and it was plan as day to see. I am sure we will address kicker in the offseason so I am not concerned. Like I said earlier I am looking forward to seeing if Rivera lets Geno kick from 50 yards and I will be interested to see if Geno can make it from 50.

You don't know what he can do in a game if you never give him the chance. Of course, an incompetent coach like Rivera wouldn't understand that.



Oh, and Graham Gano is wearing #4. **** him. I already don't like him.

[CarolinaFan87]

You don't know what he can do in a game if you never give him the chance. Of course, an incompetent coach like Rivera wouldn't understand that.



Oh, and Graham Gano is wearing #4. **** him. I already don't like him.

When Rivera gave him a shot in a game he missed from the 40's. Medlock is not a great kicker so I am not sure what the problem is. It only took KC one game I believe to get rid of him.

[manbearchef]

When Rivera gave him a shot in a game he missed from the 40's. Medlock is not a great kicker so I am not sure what the problem is. It only took KC one game I believe to get rid of him.

No one is saying Medlocke is a great kicker, but you can't just drop a kicker who started the season 7-for-7, then had one blocked and missed two 40+ yarders. It's just stupid. I didn't expect Medlocke to be a permanent thing, but I figured he'd finish the season. The one reason I'd have kept Medlocke is he's shown that he can be clutch if need be (the 40 yarder against Chicago that took the lead in the 4th), which isn't an easy thing, especially for a young kicker.

I still say if we had Kasay over the past two years we'd have a good 4+ more wins.